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Background
Background
Why do I own a Supra?
When I found my Supra, I had been shopping for a car for several months. I was originally looking for a Prelude or a Integra. I was not buying a car to modify. I was simply sick of my Buick Titanic (Riviera) which drove like the whale it was. The Preludes and Integras that I had looked at were late model. I even got as far as haggling with a sales man over the price on a 1995 Integra. In the end they were all to expensive. In addition to expense, I am 6' 3" and neither the Prelude nor the Integra was comfortable for me.
One night driving home in the rain, I stopped by the lemon lot on Randolph air force base. A white sports car caught my eye. I hopped out, in the rain and looked for a for sale sign, a number, anything, but there was nothing so I went home.
The next day, it bugged me that I had not even gotten a phone number, make or model off of that car, so I convinced my self that I must have missed the sign in the rain. A friend and I drove back to the base and looked at the car. There was no sign. I jotted a quick note with my name and number and the simple question "is this car for sale?" and placed it under the wind shield wiper. The next day I got a call. Shortly there after I owned my first sports car.
I have fallen in love with my car. I tend to be a skeptic, but this car has not only lived up to all of the expectation I have for a great sports car; it has blown them out of the water. It will be hard to love any other car after the Supra. All the cars I've looked at or owned just don't hold up to the Supra.
Supra Background
Supra Su"pra, adv. L.; Over; above; beyond.
The Toyota 2000GT is the origin of the Supra. Before it's arrival in 1967, Toyota did not build sporty cars. However, with the arrival of the 2000GT (which was based on the same chassis as the celica of the era) Toyota entered the sports car market. The 2000GT featured racing technology which can later be seen in the Supra (in fact, the pattern remained nearly identical to the 2000GT through the MKIV Supra).
The Toyota Supra originated as the Supra Celica, or the top of the line version of the Celica inspired by the reaction to the 2000GT. The first generation (or MKI Supra) came out in 1979 and was the first Toyota to use EFI. The 2nd generation Supra Celica came out in 1982. In 1986 (technically 1986.5) the first stand alone model of the Supra came out, the 3rd generation Supra. In 1993 the 4th generation Supra arrived. In 1998 the supra line came to an end in the US (and in 1999 in Japan), possibly forever.
The Supra has always been powered by an in-line (or straight) 6 cylinder engine (like the 2000GT). All versions of the Supra have been rear wheel drive, have had 4 wheel independent suspension, and disc brakes.
Despite the solid technical foundation, the Supra has never been a pure sports car (unlike the 2000GT which was built to prove Toyota could build a pure sports car). The Supras have always had much extra weight due to the extra creature comforts Toyota added. In effect, they were sporty luxury cars. However, if put on a diet, any Supra has serious potential. The in-line 6 cylinder engine Toyota builds are incredibly strong (7Ms - in the US MKIII Supra) can produce 500rwhp without internal work. The 1JZ (found in JDM MKIII Supras) and 2JZ (found in the US MKIV Supra) engines can produce 700+ rwhp without a problem. The current record for most power at the rear wheels on a stock bottom end 2JZ is over 950 rwhp.
In short, the best thing about the Supras (and there has to be one "best" thing by definition) may be the engines Toyota produces. They are a model of Toyota over engineering and every bit as (if not more) reliable at 2, 3 or even 4 times there original horse power as most manufacturers engines are stock. The rest of the cars are just as stout, with everything overbuilt. It is almost as if Toyota intended every MKIV Supra to have 700rwhp instead of 320 flywheel horse power or every MKIII to have 400 rwhp instead of 230 flywheel horse power. One has to wonder.
The Future
The future of the Supra is uncertain. Toyota will only officially state that they don't have any official (i.e. publicly announced) plans to bring back the Supra. Various rumors (mostly wild speculation) have been floating around the Internet about the MKV Supra. Some claim it will be a V8 car, others a V6. Some even claim it may use a V10. In general, these rumors are simply people making things up.
Current F1 and other racing efforts indicate that Toyota is still in the performance game. In fact, Toyota has announced a 400 hp hybrid that will get 30 mpg, but it will NOT be called the Supra, and rightly so. Any car Toyota might release with the Supra name just won't be a Supra unless it is an in-line 6 cylinder powered car. As Toyota is currently phasing out all in-line 6 cylinder engines in their new cars in favor of I4, V6 or V8 engines, it is unlikely they will revisit the I6 format in the near future. Add to this the fact that the dimensions of a I6 make it unsuitable for a short nose car, or a front wheel drive car and the possibility of Toyota producing another I6 Supra is reduced to almost 0. It just isn't economically feasible to develop an engine for one car.
Given the current market, and the return of the sporty car (WRX, STI, EVO, Z06, Viper, 350z, G35 and a slew of other sporty cars) after its downfall to Stupid Useless Vehicles (SUV), Toyota will probably have several sporty vehicles, all overbuilt and very capable. We can only hope that a combination of nostalgia and market pressure will cause Toyota to bring back the 2000GT/Supra format, under whatever name. If they don't we will just have to make do with the Supra's on the road now.
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